New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drake Maye has won over many fans during a standout second season, but one writer clearly still isn’t convinced.
The New England Patriots quarterback has garnered national attention amid a dominant stretch. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky joined a growing chorus of supporters by declaring Maye the season’s first-half MVP on Thursday’s “Get Up.”
That praise drew the ire of Scott Kacsmar. The former Football Outsiders editor and ESPN contributor picked apart Maye’s 2025 success to refute his MVP candidacy,
“Drake Maye is 1-9 in the NFL when he has to throw more than 26 passes in a game,” Kacsmar wrote in the first of several critical tweets. “He’s also never won a game where the Patriots allowed more than 20 points and he had to lead a 4QC/GWD. Low-volume passer beating up on bad teams with unsustainable deep ball success. Wake me up when he starts having to carry the team to wins. Long way to go to show he’s the MVP of this league.”
Yes, Maye must maintain this torrid play over New England’s final nine games to stay in the MVP picture. Two stellar months don’t ensure that the 23-year-old is a superstar quarterback who will replace Tom Brady and spark another dynasty.
Still, Kacsmar cherry-picked data and talking points to fit his narrative. Maye threw exactly 26 passes in a Week 6 win over the New Orleans Saints, and seven of those higher-volume losses were from his rookie campaign.
Challenged on those parameters, Kacsmar claimed that Maye is “an all-time outlier.” He noted that infamous draft bust Ryan Leaf is among the 228 quarterbacks with two or more wins with 26 or more pass attempts in his first 21 games. Kacsmar didn’t mention that Leaf threw two interceptions in each of those victories.
Although Maye has never led a fourth-quarter comeback, he orchestrated a game-winning drive in a monumental 23-20 triumph over the Buffalo Bills. Kacsmar apparently doesn’t like that the Patriots have established early leads in victories this season, but he also tried to discredit that Week 5 performance at Orchard Park because Maye played poorly in the first half.
Of course, it’s not a bad thing to jump ahead with remarkable efficiency. While Maye has averaged 23.8 pass attempts in New England’s six victories this season, he also has a 134.6 quarterback rating with a 78.3 percent completion rate, 10.3 yards per pass attempt, 12 passing touchdowns and one pick.
It’s not Maye’s fault the Patriots have enjoyed a favorable schedule and haven’t trailed in the fourth quarter during their five-game winning streak. Some regression could take him out of the MVP running, but he’ll get more chances to prove himself in a rematch with the Bills and road games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens.
